China has emerged as the sixth largest engineering contractor in the world, including India, with the industry's turnover hitting a record $21.76 billion in 2005, an industry association said on Thursday.
The turnover represents a growth of 24.6 per cent from 2004, deputy president, China International Contractors Association (Chinca), Diao Chunhe, said at the 2006 Global Construction Summit in Beijing.
New contracts signed by Chinese contractors in 2005 totalled $29.6 billion, up 24.2 per cent.
Diao said the past year has seen Chinese contractors continuing to expand their market shares.
In India, a market that Chinese firms have been vying for a long time without success, new contracts won by Chinese contractors in 2005 amounted to $1.7 billion, Xinhua news agency reported.
In Iran, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, contracts going to Chinese firms all hit new highs with the value of contracts won in each market exceeding $1 billion.
Chinese contractors also performed impressively in the US, the world's leading market, as well as in East Europe and Latin America.
The success of Chinese contractors is highlighted by the amount of major projects they have won, Diao said, adding that Chinese firms are receiving wider recognition.
In 2005, Chinese contractors signed 49 contracts worth over $100 million each. The Federation Tower in Moscow will be built by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation, one of the biggest engineering contractors in China.
Located in Moscow's future business centre, the 340-meter-high skyscraper is set to become the new landmark in the Russian capital.
Another encouraging development, according to Diao, is that more Chinese firms have learnt to work as a group in competing for large projects. Despite their rapid expansion, Diao said Chinese contractors also face major challenges.
"The major part of their businesses are concentrated in the lower-end market where profit is quite low," he said.
Chinese contractors must change their model of growth and pursue a new model that will be intelligence, technology and capital-intensive, he said.
"They must push for technical innovations and develop their own core technologies so that their competitive edge in the international market shall not depend on their low costs alone," Diao said.
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